He is adequate defensively, with below average range, a decent glove, and an good arm for a 1B. Above average power, leading the Red Sox minors in home runs in 2006. Good contact and plate patience. Slow on the basepaths, about what you'd expect from a converted catcher. Strikes out too much. Failed to impress during extended stints with the Red Sox in Spring Training 2007.

In 74 games with the PawSox, Bailey is hitting .250/.358/.429 -- but .301/.400/.491 against LHP.

Redsox.com:

[LHP] Miller allowed six runs over five innings in his first start against an American League team in an 8-5 loss to the Twins on Saturday. Miller had experienced few problems in his first four starts, with a 3-1 record and 2.70 ERA, all of which came in Interleague Play.

Our record against RHP is 40-20 (.667); vs LHP it's 13-11 (.541) -- a significant difference. Heading into the playoffs it would be good to know if we have a serviceable sub that mashes lefties. Cleveland's roster is lousy with LHP, as is Detroit's (though much of det's are injured). None of the Angels' starters are LH, and only one reliever.

It would be interesting to look at how many different starting lineups there have been this season. 30? 35? More? Usually the sign of trouble, for us it's a sign of going the distance. I'm glad. There's nothing more annoying than stumbling exhausted into the playoffs and being knocked off easily after amassing an impressive regular season record.

I'm glad you didn't link the retrosheet version of the '78 game, as it says:

"The HR that broke NewEngland's back;"

right in the play-by-play. As far as I know, that's the only thing wrong with retrosheet. I haven't seen any other examples there like that one. They have little "asides," but they're always facts.

Also, I was watching that Dent at bat recently, and it really is fishy with the bat switch. He fouls the ball off his leg, he hobbles around for a while, then they come out and spray shit on him (mystique?), then he's finally ready to hit, and the bat boy comes out and gives him a new bat, even though he's holding the original bat and there was nothing wrong with it. (Except that Mickey Rivers hadn't corked it...)

Nope, though it does have this anecdote from the 3rd inning: "Rodriguez homered[Jeter scored]; the ball left the park and landed on thestreet; a few seconds later it came sailing back into CF whereDamon picked it up and threw it back over the wall onto thestreet; it came back in one more time and West pocketed it toend the game of catch between Damon and the fans on LansdowneStreet".

ANDREW MILLER IS PITCHING A SHUTOUT!ANDREW MILLER IS PITCHING A SHUTOUT!ANDREW MILLER IS PITCHING A SHUTOUT!ANDREW MILLER IS PITCHING A SHUTOUT!ANDREW MILLER IS PITCHING A SHUTOUT!ANDREW MILLER IS PITCHING A SHUTOUT!

I think that Redsock's impatience with announcers is rubbing off on me.

I sat down to watch on mlb.tv just as the fourth ended with that close play at the plate in which Rabelo was called out at home. The announcers were insisting he was probably safe, that his hand came around and got the plate before Varitek's tag. The replay switches to another angle and the announcer continues to repeat that he was safe even as the new angle clearly shows Varitek's glove on Rabelo before he manages to touch the plate.

The game is ugly -- Julian threw a few good pitches before giving up the slam and I thought he was going to get out of it. But it was hard not to smell the L in the air tonight, what with the opponent, our starting pitcher, the park, and our lineup.

Hi all! Tigers fan here in Detroit. Nice blog ya got going here. Just wanted to say hi to the opponents' backers. There's a lot of buzz about this series here in the MoTown area. Tigers got spanked pretty good by the Red Sox last time around, but we're all looking forward to this series. It's always nice to see two quality teams go at it, and I can't think of many clubs with more class than the Red Sox. I'll be at the game tomorrow, hope you all have a good time watching on tv; I'm sure the next two games will be a lot closer. Heck, this one could tighten right up yet, who knows!

Heya Redsock. It would be great to have you in our humble yard. Comerica is a beautiful park, and it's been nice having it filled to capacity these last two seasons. Heh, my roommate and I are aiming to visit Boston when the Tigers come to town next season. Great fans think alike. ;-)